Non-pharmacological interventions to reduce procedural needle pain in children (6-12 years): A systematic review.

PROBLEM: Children of different age groups frequently undergo painful procedures involving needles, which can be a source of significant discomfort. Regrettably, this aspect of care often receives insufficient attention from healthcare professionals. The existing literature proposes several methodologies for managing procedural pain, with nonpharmacological techniques being particularly promising. These techniques should be adapted to the patient's age, but literature predominantly emphasizes their use with infants. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate their effectiveness in diverse age groups. Consequently, the purpose of this systematic review is to identify non-pharmacological interventions used to prevent needle-related procedural pain in children (age group 6-12 years). ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Primary studies in English language on non-pharmacological interventions in children aged 6-12 years undergoing needle-related procedures found on PubMed, CINAHL and Embase. SAMPLE: A total of 18 studies were included. RESULTS: The results indicate the potential application of various non-pharmacological techniques, with distraction methods standing out. These techniques include activities like utilizing cards, watching cartoons, employing virtual reality and playing video games. CONCLUSIONS: Children's procedural pain represents a significant challenge in treatment plans. Literature offers several approaches, including nonpharmacologic methods, to control this problem. Prioritizing procedural pain management is critical both at clinical and organizational levels to improve the quality of pediatric care. IMPLICATIONS: These findings offer different options to support clinical practice, holding the potential to enhance the quality of patient care.

Enhancing ICU care with nurse-written diaries.

BACKGROUND: Patient diaries are a supportive intervention aiding intensive care unit (ICU) survivors and their families post-critical illness. Despite their growing acceptance, ICU diary usage varies across settings. AIM: This study explored themes in nurse-written ICU diaries and their impact on nursing work and communication. STUDY DESIGN: This qualitative study employed an interpretative narrative methodology to explore the experiences of ICU nurses. The narrative approach enabled the synthesis of diverse events and impressions into coherent stories, facilitating a deeper understanding of participants' perspectives. Data collection involved thematic analysis of diaries following Braun and Clarke's methodology. The analysis included familiarization, coding, theme identification and validation by the research team. The findings were reviewed by participants and translated into English using the WHO's cultural adaptation guidelines, ensuring reliability and credibility in the study's outcomes. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 28 ICU nurses, each with professional experience ranging from 1 to 23 years. The hospitalized subjects for whom our sample wrote the diary consist of 13 participants aged 23-79 years. Two main themes emerged from the analysis: (1) simplifying the intensive care situation with specific minimization strategies and (2) attention to nonverbal communication. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the role of nurse-written ICU diaries in making the ICU environment more understandable and less intimidating for patients. Nurse-written ICU diaries contribute to improved communication and emotional support within the ICU environment. Further research is needed to explore these effects more fully and to assess the broader implications of ICU diaries on patient outcomes. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurse-written intensive care unit (ICU) diaries have a significant impact on both patient care and nursing practice in ICUs. ICU diaries serve as a crucial tool for enhancing communication, emotional support and empathetic care within these high-stress environments. By simplifying complex medical information and focusing on nonverbal communication, nurses can make the ICU experience more comprehensible and less intimidating for patients. This approach reduces patient anxiety and psychological stress while fostering a stronger nurse-patient relationship, ultimately improving care quality.

Cardiac Children's Hospital Early Warning Score: Italian Validation.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The Cardiac Children's Hospital Early Warning Score (C-CHEWS) is an early warning scale used to identify paediatric patients experiencing clinical deterioration which may warrant a transfer to an ICU. However, no studies have tested the C-CHEWS in an Italian paediatric cardiac population. The aims of this study were to translate/back-translate and validate the Italian version of the C-CHEWS and its algorithm. DESIGN AND METHOD: Retrospective study. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, negative predictive value were used to evaluate the performance of C-CHEWS. In additions the Cohen's kappa statistic was calculated to evaluate the agreement between patient's status described by C-CHEWS score (≥5) and actual ICU transfer. RESULTS: High discrimination was observed for sensitivity (81.5%), specificity (99.6%), accuracy (99.7%), positive predictive value (86.7%), and negative predictive value (99.8%). The Cohen's kappa score was observed to be equal to 0.837 (p-value <0.001) indicating there was excellent significant agreement between a C-CHEWS score ≥ 5 and effective evaluation for patients transfer to an ICU. CONCLUSION: The Italian version of the C-CHEWS proved to be a sensitive, specific and reliable tool in the early detection of a physical deterioration of hospitalized paediatric cardiac surgical patients. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This tool may help doctors, nurses and all healthcare professionals to promptly recognize and treat clinical deterioration and facilitate urgent transfers to the PICU.

An investigation into Video Game Addiction in Pre-Adolescents and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Game addiction is an emerging problem in public health. A gaming disorder is characterized by a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior. The behavioral pattern is severe enough to implicate a significant involvement of family, social, educational, professional, or other relationships. Therefore, greater attention needs to be paid to potential addictive behaviors in terms of video games in order to identify both pre-adolescents and adolescents at risk and to provide them with adequate assistance. Materials and Methods: A random sample of 622 students including pre-adolescents and adolescents were enrolled from September 1st to October 31th 2016, and the Game Addiction Scale (GAS) interview was used to identify pathological students with both Monothetic and Polythetic analysis. RESULTS: This study shows the presence of pathological students is equal to 1.93%, with 37.46% and 4.50% obtained with Monothetic and Polythetic analysis (global and partial), respectively. In our sample, the most frequent were students with a gaming time of 1 or 2 h, and students with a day gaming frequency of 1, 2, or 3 times a day. The items with more pathological students were Item 2 (i.e., Tolerance) and 4 (i.e., Withdrawal). Every item was positively correlated with Daily gaming time(hours) and Daily game frequency, excluding Item 4(i.e., Withdrawal). Finally, the Monothetic GAS score was positively correlated with Daily gaming time while the Polythetic Global GAS was positively correlated with Daily game frequency and negatively with Education level; instead, the Polythetic Partial GAS score was positively correlated with only Daily gaming time. CONCLUSION: Males are pathological gamblers more so than females and spend more time playing video games. An increase in Daily game frequency or Daily gaming time implicates an increase in video game addictions, while an increase in Education level, which generally corresponds to a greater age, implicates a decrease in game addiction. Finally, we observed that the correlations obtained between the Polythetic Partial GAS score with the independent variables such as Age, Gender, Education level, Daily gaming time (hours), and Daily game frequency were analogous to the significant correlations obtained with the Monothetic GAS score, while these correlations were different for the Polythetic Global GAS and the independent variables. These results suggest that the use of the original Polythetic scale should not be neglected.

Cornell Assessment of Pediatric Delirium: Italian cultural validation and preliminary testing.

INTRODUCTION: Paediatric delirium is associated with a longer duration of hospitalization in paediatric intensive care units, the emergence of post-traumatic symptoms and possible neurocognitive dysfunction after discharge. In preschool children, the diagnosis of delirium appears rather challenging: their pre-verbal status and the presence of cognitive skills still in development make accurate diagnosis difficult. Recently, a pediatric delirium screening tool suitable for critical preschool children has also been developed and identified in international literature, with excellent results also in critical infants under 2 years of age: the Cornell Assessment of Pediatric Delirium (CAPD). The CAPD, using a Likert scale, bases the assessment of paediatric delirium within the context of child development. This scale follows the development of the infant by comparing the detection of specific items on the scale as the anchor points that characterize the development of infants by age groups. OBJECTIVE: Culturally and linguistically validation in Italian language and prior testing of the Cornell Assessment of Pediatric Delirium. METHOD: Translation and Cultural Validation of the Cornell Assessment of Pediatric Delirium (CAPD) for the Evaluation/Diagnosis of Pediatric Delirium within Pediatric Intensive Care. The translation and adaptation of this instrument followed the phases of the model proposed by the World Health Organization. Prior testings, such as item descriptive analysis, item-total correlation and Cronbach's alpha, were conducted. RESULTS: All phases of the cultural-linguistic validation process were carried out in a satisfactory manner. For the prior testing, the scale was administered to a sample of 42 children, with age ranged 0-5 years old (66.6%), with a higher prevalence of the male gender. All items were normally distributed and there was no excessive Skeweness and Kurtosis. Each item contributed to the scale fairly well and all coefficients of item total correlation (rjx) were higher than the recommended level of 0.30. The composite reliability index was 0.94 and Cronbach's alpha was 0.96. CONCLUSIONS: The process has meticulously followed the recommendations in international literature. The final version was approved by the authors of the original instrument.

Delirium in ICU patients following cardiac surgery: An observational study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To observe the clinical and structural factors that can be associated with the post-operative onset of delirium in patients who have undergone heart surgery. BACKGROUND: Several risk factors could contribute to the development of delirium, such as the use of some sedative drugs and a patient's history with certain types of acute chronic disease. However, in the literature, there is little knowledge about the association between delirium in patients who have undergone cardiac surgical intervention and their clinical and environmental predictors. DESIGN: We used an observational design. METHODS: We enrolled 89 hospitalised patients in the ICU. Patients were first evaluated using the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale and subsequently using the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU. A linear model of regression was used to identify the predictors of delirium in patients. RESULTS: The patients had an average age of 89 years (SD = 6.9), were predominantly male (84.3%) and were mostly married (79.8%). The majority of patients had been subjected to bypass (80.9%), while 19.1% had undergone the intervention of endoprosthesis. The logistic regression model showed that patient age, the duration of mechanically assisted ventilation, continuous exposure to artificial light and the presence of sleep disorders were predictors of the onset of delirium. CONCLUSION: This study further confirms that clinical aspects such as insomnia and one's circadian rhythm as well as structural elements such as exposure to artificial light are variables that should be monitored in order to prevent and treat the onset of severe post-operative delirium. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Identifying the possible factors that predispose a patient to the onset of delirium during intensive therapy following cardiac surgery, it is fundamental to implement interventions to prevent this syndrome.

[Effectiveness of the Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) methodology in patient handovers between nurses, Italy]. / Implementazione nella sicurezza delle cure e la continuità assistenziale: revisione narrativa della letteratura sull'efficacia del metodo Sbar.

Exchange of information between healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients is essential for providing effective care. Use of the Situation-BackgroundAssessment-Recommendation (SBAR) methodology is increasingly indicated in the health sector to facilitate communication during handovers of patients between clinicians or clinical teams. The present review of the literature aims to determine the effectiveness of the SBAR methodology in the handover of nursing documentation.

Comparative Analysis: Implementation of a Pre-operative Educational Intervention to Decrease Anxiety Among Parents of Children With Congenital Heart Disease.

PURPOSE: The present study evaluated the efficacy of a nursing educational intervention in alleviating the level of parental anxiety in the parents of children who required heart surgery for the first time. DESIGN AND METHODS: A comparative study was used to explore the parents of children who had to undergo cardiac surgery. Parents of children were randomized into 2 groups: 1) control group and 2) experimental group or parents that received the educational intervention about PICU stay. RESULT: The results of STAY-1 showed that the average anxiety score of group 1 was lower than that of group 2 (63.0 [SD=3.5] vs. 70.4 [SD=2.8]). CONCLUSION: In order to decrease levels of parental anxiety and stress prior to paediatric surgery, parents should be adequately informed about planned therapeutic procedures. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: We speculate that pre-surgery parent education on what to expect before, during and after their child's cardiac surgery may improve parents' knowledge and satisfaction and decrease anxiety.

Lived experience of patients with glaucoma glaucoma: a phenomenological study.

INTRODUCTION: Glaucoma is often a misdiagnosed pathology and is one of the main causes of blindness in the world population.Glaucoma frequentlycauses limitations in theactivities of daily livingand changes the patient's quality of life. AIM: The purpose of our study is to describe the life experiences of subjects in southern Italy suffering from glaucoma. METHOD: Phenomenological study RESULTS: From the analysis of interviews six main themes emerged:(1) a profound change in lifestyle, (2) casual diagnosis,(3) independent research,(4) fear of blindness,(5) fear of being a burden to family, and (6) fear of familial pathology. Two additional themes appeared: the subjects felt lucky not to have a deadly disease and were uncertain about the future. CONCLUSION: The negative aspects prevail over any positive facets. A deep understanding of these experiences can help health care professionals to deliver correct holistic support.

Assessing digital health knowledge, attitudes and practices among nurses in Naples: a survey study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Digital competencies are essential for nurses to actively participate in the digitisation of healthcare systems. Therefore, it is important to assess their skill levels to identify strengths and areas for improvement. METHOD AND ANALYSIS: This study aims to investigate nurses' knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, subjective norms and behavioural control regarding digital health. A knowledge-attitude-practice model guided the development of a structured questionnaire divided into six sections. A sample of 480 registered nurses of Naples will be involved in the study. After conducting a pretest, an invitation will be publicised through the institutional communication channels of Nurses Provincial Order of Naples. Nurses will respond via a unique link or quick response code sent through a PEC email system (a legally valid email system, which guarantees delivery and receipt). They will have 30 days to complete the survey, scheduled between May and July 2024. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: No ethics committee approval was required, as the study does not involve minors, direct or indirect physical or physiological harm to participants, or clinical trials. Anonymity will be guaranteed at all data collection and processing levels. The results will be broadly distributed through conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications. The effective use of digital technologies by healthcare professionals can bring significant improvements to healthcare services and help improve the health of individuals and community health. The study's findings will serve as a foundation for developing and implementing educational programmes related to eHealth and telemedicine, promoting the harmonisation of such programmes.

Women Acute Myocardial Infarction-Identifying and Understanding the Gender Gap (WAMy-GAP): A Study Protocol.

Barriers to accessing care and misinterpretations of ischemic heart disease symptoms due to lack of awareness contribute to women's delay in seeking care. Women may delay seeking treatment for up to 3 h or even up to 5 days. They often perceive themselves to be at low risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and prioritize family responsibilities or household chores. The causes of this delay are multifactorial and influence the decision-making process, particularly in the pre-hospital phase. The objective of this study protocol is to evaluate prodromal symptoms and identify risk behaviors in women with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This is a protocol for a multicenter study that will be conducted using the mixed-method methodology using the McSweeney Acute and Prodromal Myocardial Infarction Symptom Survey (MAPMISS) to evaluate symptoms and semi-structured interviews to investigate behaviors. This study protocol is intended to fill an important knowledge gap on premonitory and acute symptoms of AMI in women in Italy, as well as to understand the causes and mechanisms underlying delays in accessing healthcare services during an acute event such as AMI. The investigation of this issue will facilitate the removal of gender-related inequalities in the diagnosis and treatment of acute myocardial infarction while also fostering dialogue on the barriers to behavior change.

Development and Management of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder and Food Neophobia in Pediatric Patients with Food Allergy: A Comprehensive Review.

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) and food neophobia present significant challenges in pediatric healthcare, particularly among children with food allergies (FAs). These eating disorders, characterized by the persistent avoidance or restriction of food, can lead to severe nutritional deficiencies and psychosocial impairments. The presence of FAs further complicates these eating behaviors, as the fear of allergic reactions exacerbates avoidance and restrictive patterns. This comprehensive review synthesizes current knowledge on ARFID and food neophobia, focusing on their definitions, characteristics, and the unique challenges they present in the context of FAs. The review explores the critical role of healthcare professionals, especially nurses, in integrating psychological and clinical care to improve outcomes for affected children. A multidisciplinary approach, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Family-Based Therapy (FBT), is emphasized as essential in addressing the complex needs of these patients. The review also highlights the need for standardized treatment protocols and further research on the long-term outcomes of these disorders, aiming to enhance therapeutic strategies and family support systems. Effective management of ARFID and food neophobia in the context of FAs requires a holistic and integrated approach to mitigate the profound impacts on a child's growth, development, and overall well-being.

Motivational Interviewing as a Strategy to Improve Adherence in IBD Treatment: An Integrative Review Amidst COVID-19 Disruptions.

Aims and Objectives: This review aims to analyze the effectiveness of motivational interviewing (MI) in enhancing therapeutic adherence and compliance in adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), especially considering the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: IBD, which includes conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, affects over 10 million people globally. It significantly impacts both physical and psychological well-being, leading to challenges in therapeutic adherence. Only 25-47% of patients with IBD adequately follow prescribed treatments. Design and Methods: An integrative methodology that combines qualitative and quantitative research was utilized, following a 7-step framework. This framework encompasses identifying the research question, devising a search strategy, performing a critical appraisal, summarizing findings, extracting data, conducting an analysis, and drawing conclusions. Results: Poor adherence to therapy among patients with IBD can exacerbate disease progression and result in complications. MI has been identified as a promising approach to improving both adherence and treatment outcomes. Studies, including those predating the COVID-19 pandemic, have demonstrated MI's effectiveness in enhancing adherence among patients with IBD. Conclusions: MI shows promise in enhancing adherence among adult patients with IBD. Although initial results are promising, additional research is needed to thoroughly understand its effectiveness across various clinical contexts. Relevance to Clinical Practice: The findings underscore the potential of MI as an integral component of IBD treatment strategies, suggesting that its implementation could enhance patient-provider interactions and lead to better overall health outcomes.

Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the Leader Member Exchange Scale (LMX-7): A Validation Study.

For decades, scholars have studied leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships to understand and explain the effects of leadership on follower attitudes and performance outcomes within work settings. One available instrument to measure these aspects is the LMX-7 scale. This measurement has been widely used in empirical studies, but its psychometric properties have been poorly explored. The aim of this study was to test the psychometric characteristics (content, structural and construct validity, and reliability) of the Italian version of the LMX-7 scale and to support its cultural adaptation. We used a cross-sectional multi-center design. The forward-backward translation process was used to develop the Italian version of the scale. The scale was administered through an online survey to 837 nurses and nurse managers working in different settings. The factorial structure was tested using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA), and reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. For the construct validity, we used hypothesis testing and differentiation by known groups. The Italian version of the LMX-7 scale presented one dimension. All the psychometric tests performed confirmed its validity and suggested its usefulness for future research.

Workload, Job Satisfaction and Quality of Nursing Care in Italy: A Systematic Review of Native Language Articles.

Nursing research is rapidly increasing, yet contributions from numerous countries that may interest the international nursing community are impeded because many research articles are published in authors' native language and not in English. The objectives of this work were to systematically review papers published in Italian related to job satisfaction and the quality of nursing care, and to discuss their findings in light of the international literature. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method was used. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and Indice della Letteretura Italiana di Scienze Infermieristiche (ILISI) databases were consulted for eligible studies published from January 2015 to November 2022. Two hundred sixteen papers were identified, 11 of which were selected for review: 8 on job satisfaction, two on workload issues, and 1 on quality of nursing care. The quality of included studies was assessed through the Effective Public Health Practice Project quality assessment tool (EPHPP). The results of our review were in line with those of international literature, and they can help to fill the knowledge gap on the quality of nursing performance in Italian care settings. In addition, the proposed method can provide further elements of discussion among literature providers and reviewers.

The Impact of an Intensive Care Diary on the Psychological Well-Being of Patients and Their Family Members: Longitudinal Study Protocol.

BACKGROUND: Thanks to medical and technological advancements, an increasing number of individuals survive admission to intensive care units. However, survivors often experience negative outcomes, including physical impairments and alterations in mental health. Anxiety, depression, cognitive impairments, post-traumatic stress disorders, and functional disorders are known collectively as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). Among the key triggering factors of this syndrome, memory impairment appears to play a significant role. AIMS: This study aims to evaluate the impact of an intensive care diary on the psychological well-being of patients and their relatives after discharge from the ICU. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. EXPECTED RESULTS: The results of this study evaluate the impact of an ICU diary on the quality of life of ICU survivors and their family members.

Quality of Life of Families with Children Presenting Congenital Heart Disease:Longitudinal Study Protocol.

BACKGROUND: Advances in medicine have caused a notable increase in the survival rates of children born with congenital heart disease, even in the most complicated cases, almost mitigating the disease's pathology from lethal to chronic. The quality of life perceived by such children is influenced by the perceptions of their parents. However, the international literature has rarely considered the entire family nucleus. AIMS: This study aims to study the temporal trend of quality of life of families with children with congenital heart disease, particularly with respect to parents following a child's hospitalization for an invasive procedure. DESIGN: A longitudinal study. METHOD: A sample of families (that is, those including a child with congenital heart disease and their parents) will be enrolled following the patient's discharge from the hospital and examined every 3 months for 1 year. The study's adopted hypothesis is that there is an interdependence between the subjects of the study that is capable of influencing individual perceptions of quality of life. RESULTS: This study will attempt to identify variables (and their temporal trend) that can be attributed to the family unit and-together with physical and clinical variables-that may influence the quality of life of children with congenital heart disease. CONCLUSION: Examining family quality of life with the longitudinal method will allow us to identify the predictors and interdependence of this factor with respect to children and their parents. This will help to correct and elaborate upon care guidelines, providing better assistance to patients and their caregivers.

Nurses and Stigma at the Time of COVID-19: A Phenomenological Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting strain on every country in the world and their health systems. Healthcare professionals struggle on the frontline and they can experience stigma, which can create difficulties in controlling epidemic diseases, influencing the mental health of healthcare professionals, caregivers, families, communities, and the provided quality of care. The aim of this study is to explore the lived experience of Italian nurses about perceived stigma during COVID-19 pandemic with the phenomenological Cohen method. The principal themes that emerged from data analysis were "stigma in the working environment" and "stigma in everyday life". Each of these themes had subthemes: "looks like gun sights", "avoiding closeness to others", "nobody wants to touch you", and "the fault of being your family members". Public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, are stressful events for individuals and communities. Stigma can be more dangerous than the disease, and a major obstacle to appropriate medical and mental health interventions. Understanding how healthcare professionals experience stigma is essential to design and implement specific educational, psychological, and organisational programmes.

Influenza vaccination and healthcare workers: barriers and predisposing factors.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE WORK: Influenza is a disease that affects a large part of the world's population annually, with major health, social and economic impacts. Active immunisation practices have always been recommended to counter influenza, especially for people at risk. The recommendations of major health agencies strongly advise influenza vaccination for all healthcare workers, mostly for those in contact with at-risk or immunocompromised individuals. Yet, the influenza vaccination coverage among healthcare workers remains rather low worldwide. This review explore barriers and the facilitators of health care professional toward influenza's vaccination. METHODS: Narrative review  consulting the databases: PubMed, CINAHL by combining keywords health care worker, flu, influenza, vaccination, barrier, resistence, hesitangy, between November 2019 and February 2020 Results. From the 1031 records initially, twenty-two primary studies were included in this narrative review. Our results show that the identified facilitators are: desire for self-protection, protection for loved ones and community. Instead, the barriers to vaccination identified are: fear of contracting influenza from the vaccination itself; not considering themselves at risk; to believing believe that their immune system is capable of managing a trivial disease; disease considered trivial, laziness; false beliefs. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Adherence rate on influenza vaccination among health professionals is quite low. The interventions that make it "complex and traceable" flu vaccination refusal increase adherence to this type of vaccination. The results show that current vaccination campaigns do not increase the rate of adherence by healthcare workers. Identifying the predisposing factors and barriers to such vaccination can help to create, develop and test targeted educational programmes.

Evaluation of soft skills among Italian Healthcare Rehabilitators: A cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare rehabilitator skills can be grouped into hard and soft skills. Hard skills are specific and teachable, which can be defined and measured, while soft skills are less tangible and more difficult to quantify. The aim of this study is to investigate the level of knowledge of soft skills among Italian healthcare rehabilitators, and how they were acquired. DESIGN AND METHODS: Two hundred healthcare rehabilitators, who worked in Southern Italy were enrolled from September 1st to October 31st 2017, and interviewed with Computer-Assisted-Web-Interview (CAWI) software, to assess their level of soft skills. RESULTS: Healthcare rehabilitators showed significant satisfaction with university education (59.5%), particularly for theoretical training (64%), while significant dissatisfaction was found for technical-practical training (63.5%), training in patients' family management (66.5%) and stages participation to improve soft skills (59%). Dissatisfied rehabilitators were found for university education of soft skills (59%), particularly for interpersonal relationships with patients family (66.5%) and technical-practical train in(63.5%). Women considered the training courses about soft skills acquisition more useful than men (43.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare rehabilitator training is lacking in the teaching of both technical-practical and soft skills. It is striking that in a healthcare profession like that of the rehabilitator, where practical and empathic skills are fundamental in the relationship with the patients, such skills are not treated in analogously with theoretical training.